Fisherman feared dead; search operation called off

Kasaragod, Jan 3: A serving officer of the Central Intelligence Bureau (CIB) was found dead inside his car in Bekal town near here early on Friday.

Police sources said the officer, Rijo Francis (35) has been under treatment after he had an heart attack last year.

Police suspect that the death could be due to heart failure.

Bengaluru, May 15: With lockdown-3 coming to an end in a couple of days, Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa on Friday expressed confidence about the Centre announcing relaxation to "many things" after May 17.

"After May 17, the government of India is going to relax so many things, let us wait for it," he said in response to a question from reporters here. "According to me they (centre) will relax everything.... maybe for things like five-star hotels and others they may not give permission for the time being, but for other things they are going to give permission. Let's wait and see."

The nationwide lockdown was initially imposed from March 25 to April 14, then extended to May 3 and again to May 17 to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus. Karnataka Tourism Minister C T Ravi on Wednesday had hinted at the state government permitting the opening of gyms, fitness centres and golf courses, also certain hotels for local tourism purpose after May 17, when the third phase of the COVID-19 induced lockdown comes to an end.

The Muzrai department (in charge of the administration of temples) was also planning to have a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) in place, that needs to be followed at temples once they are opened for the public, officials have said. They said the opening of temples for the public is however subject to the MHA (Ministry of Home Affairs) guidelines.

During the recent video conferencing Prime Minister Narendra Modi had with Chief Ministers of various states, Yediyurappa had proposed doing away with district wise colour-coding and instead advocated strict cordoning of containment zones to control the spread of the pandemic.

He had pitched for resuming all economic activities in stand-alone establishments while continuing the restrictions on malls, cinema halls, dining facilities and establishments with centrally controlled air-conditioning. The CM had suggested that 50 to 100 meters around known clusters be declared as containment zones and commercial activities, including public transport, to be allowed in non- containment zones.

Bengaluru, Jun 27: A Karnataka government employee on SSLC exam duty at a school in Pavagada, Tumakuru district, on Friday tested positive for Covid-19, prompting the education department to send all staff members of the exam centre on quarantine.

“No student has been affected. All the staff has been replaced,” said R Umashankar, principal secretary, education department.

How soon we get a coronavirus vaccine depends on not only the pace of work in research labs, but also the preparedness of factories supplying glass vials, stoppers and syringes